SUMMARY
ERIK ERIKSON: POST-FREUDIAN THEORY
I. OVERVIEW
a. Erikson postulated eight stages of
psychosocial development through
which people progress. Although he
differed from Freud in his emphasis on
the ego and on social influences, his
theory is an extension, not a
repudiation of Freudian
psychoanalysis.
b. Erikson coined the term “identity
crisis”- a turning point in one’s life that
may either strengthen or weaken the
personality
c. Extend rather than repudiate Freud’s
assumptions and to offer a new way of
looking at things
d. Extended Freud’s infantile
developmental stages
e. Suggested that at each stage, a specific
psychosocial struggle contributes to
the formation of personality
f. More emphasis on both social and
historical influences
II. BIOGRAPHY
a. Erik Salomonsen- Germany
b. Seeking the name of his biological
father- showing identity confusion
c. No college degree of any kind but did
not prevent him to gain fame in an
impressive variety of fields including
psychoanalysis, anthropology,
psychohistory and education
d. At age 18, he left home to pursue the
life of a wandering artist and to search
for self-identity. He gave up that life to
teach young children in Vienna where
he met Anna Freud- his psychoanalyst
e. Neil- son with down syndrome whom
he failed to take good care where he
told his 3 other children that their
younger brother died at birth
f. 2 principles: “Do not lie to people you
care for” “Don’t pit one family member
against another”
III. THE EGO IN POST-FREUDIAN THEORY
EGO:
 FREUD: ego must be sufficiently
developed to rein in the id to be
called a psychologically healthy
person
ERIKSON: positive force that creates
a sense of identity, a sense of “I”
 As the center of personality, our ego
helps us adapt to the various
conflicts and crises of life and keeps
us from losing our individuality to
the levelling forces of society
 During childhood, the ego is weak,
pliable and fragile but by
adolescence it should begin to take
form and gain strength.
 Partially unconscious organizing
agency that synthesizes our present
experiences with past self-identities
and also with anticipated images of
self
 Person’s ability to unify experiences
and actions in an adaptive manner
 It consists of three interrelated
facets:
 The body ego: our experiences
with our body; a way of seeing
our physical self as different from
other people. We may be
dissatisfied with our body but we
recognize that this is the only
body we will ever have.
 The ego ideal: image we have in
ourselves in comparison with an
established ideal; it is responsible
for our being satisfied or
dissatisfied not only with our
physical self but our entire
personality
 Ego identity: image we have of
ourselves in the variety of social
roles we play
a. SOCIETY’S INFLUENCE
i. The ego develops within a given
society and is influenced by child-
rearing practices and other cultural
customs. All cultures and nations
develop a pseudo species, or a
fictional notion that they are
superior to other cultures.
ii. FREUD: biological
ERIKSON: historical and social
 iii.Ego exists as potential at birth but plant that parts arise, each part
it must emerge from within having its time of special
cultural environment. ascendency, until all parts have
b. EPIGENETIC PRINCIPLE arisen to form a functioning
i. The ego develops according to the whole”
epigenetic principle (a termed iv. Epigenesis means that one
borrowed from embryology); that characteristic develops on top of
is, it grows according to a another in space and time
genetically established rate and in
a fixed sequence.
ii. Step by step growth of fetal organs
iii. “anything that grows has a ground
plan and that out of this ground

IV. STAGES OF PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

STAGE PSYCHO PSYCHO BASIC CORE IMPORTANT SIGNIFICANT

SEXUAL SOCIAL STRENGTH PATHOLOGY EVENT RELATIONS
MODE CRISIS
INFANCY ORAL-SENSORY BASIC TRUST HOPE WITHDRAW FEEDING MOTHER
VS MISTRUST AL
EARLY ANAL- AUTONOMY WILL COMPULSIO TOILET PARENTS
CHILDHOOD URETHRAL- VS SHAME N TRAINING
MUSCULAR AND DOUBT
PLAY AGE INFANTILE- INITIATIVE VS PURPOSE INHIBITION EXPLORATION FAMILY
GENITAL- GUILT
LOCOMOTOR
SCHOOL AGE LATENCY INDUSTRY VS COMPETENCE INERTIA SCHOOL NEIGHBOR,
INFERIORITY SCHOOL
ADOLESCENCE PUBERTY IDENTITY VS FIDELITY ROLE PEER PEER GROUPS
IDENTITY REPUDIATION RELATIONSHIP
CONFUSION
YOUNG GENITALITY INTIMACY VS LOVE EXCLUSIVITY LOVE SEXUAL
ADULTHOOD ISOLATION RELATIONHIP PARTNERS,
FRIENDS
ADULTHOOD PROCREATIVITY GENERATIVITY CARE REJECTIVITY WORK AND DIVIDED LABOR
VS PARENTHOOD AND SHARED
STAGNATION HOUSEHOLD
OLD AGE GENERALIZATIO INTEGRITY VS WISDOM DISDAIN REFLECTION ALL HUMANITY
N OF SENSUAL DESPAIR AND
MODES ACCEPTANCE
OF LIFE

V. ERIKSON’S METHOD OF INVESTIGATION personalities, most notably Gandhi

a. Anthropological Studies and Luther. In both cases, the
i. Erikson's two most important central figure experienced an
anthropological studies were of the identity crisis that produced a basic
Sioux of South Dakota and the strength rather than a core
Yurok tribe of northern California. pathology.
Both studies demonstrated his
notion that culture and history help
shape personality.
b. Psychohistory
i. Erikson combined the methods of
psychoanalysis and historical
research to study several